https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvIk_7IVJsgWith this stuff tutorials abound. Most are written for kids to follow. Sparkfun pretty much caters to the maker/ STEM kids in the electronic crowd. They make it as easy as they can.
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/esp8266-thing-hookup-guideYou will need a FTDI adapter like this one ( because the good ole serial port will never die. They will just keep calling it something else.)
http://www.amazon.com/Mihappy-Ft232rl-Serial-Adapter-Arduino/dp/B00IJXZQ7C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1448466676&sr=8-7&keywords=FTDI++to+usbIts looks scary because there be pins. Its for temporary programming so you can just stick those into the board program it and take them back out ( carefully so you don't short anything - or you can solder a header on. Oh look they have a page on that too
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/esp8266-thing-hookup-guide/hardware-assembly Don't know how to solder, that covered as well. (as you can see, they want you to adopt and use their product)
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-solder---through-hole-solderingSparkfun is NOT the cheapest source for some things ( they make their own FTDI cable adapter for twice the price) and tey charge large fo basics like headers, cables, breadboards and the like. (
http://www.amazon.com/Gikfun-2-54mm-Breakaway-Header-Arduino/dp/B00UHIFG2C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448468942&sr=8-1&keywords=pcb+breakaway++headers - compare to $0.50 for a single 10 pin header) - One stop shop convenience I suppose. adafruit is the same way, but they also kill you on shipping..
There are numerous systems for programming these little pics (LUA is probably the most popular, andif you cute the trace on the PCB, you can make this board support them. ) But Sparkfun is kid-friendly, so they adapted this to work wit the very C++ like Arduino "Sketch" language using a plugin - Arduino sketchs are written so kids can easily learn to do robotics with the Ardunio. So if you learn sketch for doing this, you learn it for Arduino at the same time. If you ever had a programming class its just different syntax. If you haven't... well neither have these 9-12 year old kids, and tutorials abound.
This stuff is designed for kids. Its cheap so if your kid blows it out, its $15 ( mini arduino, tHING ) to $40 (raspberry pi) to replace. Not $200-1200. And there are opto isolation boards etc that you can use to make it even harder to screw up. ( you are an adult. You don't need them)
As for Glocks project' this board would work well for that - its super easy to set up a RESTful protocol to a web server and control multiple strings. ( ask me questions.. they make relay boards for this crap, and USB is already 5 v ( this board steps its input voltage down..) - You can even get staked relays where you send a binary signal to select which relay to turn on/off. Boards like this are around $15 - and you would just wire them directly to the AC mains..
Te logicl level of this chip is 3.3 to you would proably need to convert to 5v (
http://www.amazon.com/XCSOURCE-Converter-Bi-Directional-Module-TE291/dp/B0148BLZGE/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1448471478&sr=8-2-fkmr2&keywords=3.3v+logic+level+relay+board) to get most relay boards to work. I have seen some that have these converters built onto the board so you just set a jumper and give it 5v power..
I am trained as a EE - but never had a job doing EE - so ask me questions- I might know the answer. I can certainly convert to Layman speak if nothing else.